Devil's night out
by winglesszero
Summary: Based on the film 'Queen of the Damned' except it is told through the female member of Lestat's band.


I sat hugging my knees as I listened to the ear-splitting sound of the crowd, our crowd, from one of the dingy backstage rooms. I watched Jesse take a swig from a bottle, he always drank when he was nervous. Dash strolled in twirling his drumsticks in his bony fingers and then crashed down beside me on the black sofa. He briefly smiled at me and impatiently drummed his sticks on his knees. Jesse glared at him with his sharp green eyes, which were surrounded by dark, black make-up, he was also very ill tempered when he was nervous.  
"What?!" exclaimed Dash as if he was unsure of what he had done to offend him.  
"Ya really starting to bug me wiv that racket!!" He snapped taking another mouthful of his vodka.  
"Geez! You're just nervous. You'll be fine when we get started." He smiled as he continued to frivolously drum on his knees again. I fiddled with the ragged ends of my long skirt as many thoughts bustled in my head. The thought of performing live, the thought of being in front of all those screaming fans. It was all so novel to me.  
"What's up Mad? Ya not nervous are ya?" Dash beamed at me.  
"I suppose... it's just the thought of performing in front of all those people..." I now looked attentively at my boots.   
"Don't worry about it! Lestat knows what he's doing. Man I dunno how he can be so calm at a time like this!!" There was a short pause as if everyone was locked in their own thoughts when Lestat leisurely walked into the room. His bizarrely coloured eyes, due to the contact lenses he was wearing, studied us.  
"Hello there children'" he said standing in front of me. He then calmly added, "What's with you guys tonight? I thought you'd all be jumping around with excitement."  
"We're not used to this, playing in front of large crowds." I said gazing up at him. He chuckled showing his canine like fangs.  
"So apprehensive," he tittered to himself. "Well children used to it or not it's time!" We all exchanged anxious glances as we got up and followed Lestat out through the tapered, dim backstage corridors.  
My heart raced, it sounded like the beating of a native drum growing louder and louder the closer I drew to the stage. I wished I was as confident as the others but I've never been. I was always the quiet girl that nobody noticed.  
The support came that we were good friends with came off and wished us all luck. Now it was time. I tagged along behind Jesse as we went on the titanic sized stage. Our equipment was all set up all we had to do was play, which is a lot easier than it sounds when you're in front of hundreds and thousands of screaming kids who were mainly our age, eighteen, nineteen. Lestat, however, was older- this is the reason why he calls us 'children' all the time. I took my place on stage. I played the keyboard and was backup vocals, Jesse played the guitar, Dash played drums and Lestat was lead vocals. I was astonished at the size of the crowd; it was a never-ending stretch of people! 'Madison. Stay focused!' I thought to myself. The cool, fresh night breeze whirled around me blowing a few strands of my dark hair out from my loosely tied ponytail. I tucked them behind my ears and placed my quivering fingers on the smooth white keys of the electric keyboard.  
Lestat was winding the crowd up by shouting and cursing at them, which made me feel even more uncomfortable. He nodded at Dash who did a four count by whacking his drumsticks together. My fingers fiddled and slid across the keyboard in time with Dash's drumming as Lestat stood, swaying inventively to our music, his light brown, slightly wavy, shoulder length hair flurried around him due to the night breeze. His hand clutched at the microphone stand while the other was at his side. I had never seen him so engrossed in out music before. Then the thunderous sound of Jesse's guitar joined into the intro. Lestat then pulled the microphone nearer to him and started to sing along with our melody. The crowd went berserk to the enchanting sound of Lestat's voice.  
I was all so surreal and amazing, like it was happening to someone else and I was stood watching and sharing their every thought and every feeling. I had never felt like this before and there was no way I had ever in my wildest dreams imagined that we would have made it from that hideous, dilapidated apartment that we all, except Lestat, had once lived in to this, being recognised in the streets, performing in front of millions of people and for once in my life not have to worry about money!  
Lestat paced around the vast stage like a proud lion singing and swaying to the music. He still kept maddening the crowd by spitting at them, making them more and more extremely outrageous.  
I started to become more composed and watched his actions and performance from behind my electric keyboard. Never in my life had I met someone as extraordinary and remarkable as him. It's because of him that out band was at long lat noticed only a few months ago and yet I recall it all as clearly as the first time we met him.  
  
Life in the New York slums was a hard one, a struggle for money, having to find people who would employ an 18-year-old alternative girl who's more interested in thieving things that she couldn't afford instead of earning them like most people did. But that was life. I had a terrible job as a waitress in some grubby, small café that paid me pennies for long hours of work. Not nearly enough to pay the rent or buy the necessities I needed so much in life.  
I had run away from home when I was 16. I loathed my parents, every time I thought of them I became enraged and sickened. My father used to get so incredibly intoxicated with alcohol and beat both my poor mother, and me. However out of the pair of them she was by far the most unpleasant. She would beg me to do the washing, ironing and other household chores for her because she was too drunk and dreadful at doing them. So I did as she asked, to help her out, however my father caught me doing this and gave me a serious pounding and told me that I shouldn't interfere in things. But she still begged me to help her because my father would thrash her again. She would promise that she'd do it on her own next time, but she never did and now that I think about it all I realise what a fool I was to do all her work and take all her beatings! So I fled from home and never looked back.  
At first I lived on the streets. It was hard living on the streets I hardly got any sleep due to the inhuman temperatures and noise and hardly ever ate, as I hadn't enough money for food. Then I met Jesse who had also escaped from a life similar to mine. From that day on I had a home with him and his friend Dash.  
I recall that cold, dreary, winter's day that I met Lestat. I was on my way to that dreaded café, only Jesse and I worked as Dash had been fired from his last job as a shop assistant in a small corner shop. He had fell asleep on his shift and some kids stole some alcohol and other things, I found it humorous at the time because it was just like Dash to do something like that but when we became short for money of money I started to get annoyed with him because Jesse and me would be slaving away at out work places and he would be sat doing nothing helpful and not even looking for another job!  
It was so bitter that day. The wind raged around me as I struggled to walk to work. The day pasted by at a snail's pace I thought it would never end. I had to do the usual, wipe tables, take orders, do dishes, serve customers etc. All the time Marcus, my boss, was breathing down my neck complaining I wasn't doing it to his standards, I would have argued with him but I was too drained and I didn't want to lose this job otherwise things would be even worse then they already are!  
I dawdled home being careful not to slip on the ice that had rapidly formed in the streets and entered the apartment to find Jesse sat on the rundown, old brown sofa fiddling with his acoustic guitar, which he had owned ever since he was ten, he then jotted notes on some music sheets  
"Hi." I said unravelling my frayed scarf from around my neck and unbuttoning my long black coat.  
"Hey..." He murmured as if he was disrupted from some kind of deep meditation and carried on playing his guitar. I glanced around the gloomy apartment to see no Dash in sight.  
"Where's Dash? Has he managed to get a job yet?" I questioned Jesse.  
"I'm ere!" said Dash's voice from behind his battered drum kit. He was tweaking them so they'd sound better.  
"Ya mean you've done naff all again all day!!" I yelled enraged at him "You know we need the money Dash!"  
"Hey don't start on me! I've bin sorting out our equipment and writing a melody to those lyrics you wrote the other day!" he exclaimed innocently. Our equipment was mainly shabby, second-hand things that we either nicked or saved up for months on end for.  
"What you think our music is gonna meet mainstream aspects?" I questioned him. He looked fairly hurt. "You know that it doesn't Dash. We just play for our own amusement." He handed me the sheets of music that he had composed. I glanced at them reading the music, music was the only language that I had ever clearly understood. I ran away at the beginning of my exams and hadn't any qualifications.  
"You wanna try 'em out?" asked Jesse, still not looking up from the strings of his guitar.  
"Sure. We haven't jammed in a while..." I said tearing my vision from the music sheets to observe Jesse.  
I turned on my worn out electric keyboard and started to set the keyboard stand up. Jesse put down his acoustic guitar and plugged in his electric on and started to tune it up. "Jus' keep it down okay?" I said aiming it at Dash. "Remember last time we played loudly? Louis was threatening to evict us!"  
"Okay! Okay! So I went a little over-board on the drumming," he said perching himself on the small stood in front of his drums. He then added, "He has no taste in decent music anyway! He listens to Cliff Richards for crying out loud!!"  
"Are you guys finished yapping yet?" Questioned Jesse. Dash did a four count and we started to play the melodies he had written.  
Playing has an immense way of freeing yourself from you worries, problems even your world and your surroundings. I swayed to the music slowly moving my fingers about the keyboard. At the time I was lead vocals of our band and Jesse was the back up vocals. I started to sing, disconnecting myself from the dismal apartment but as I reached the chorus a remarkable voice sang with me. My concentration to the music shattered and all my senses went into over drive as I quickly jolted my eyes open. Jesse and Dash had also stopped.  
"Whoa! Jesse was that you?" I asked.  
"No way!" He replied looking slightly frightened.  
"Dash?" I turned to him. He shook his head quickly from side to side and said:   
"Ya know I can't sing!"  
My heart skipped a beat when he said this and a cold, horrible chill ran down my quivering spine. My eyes darted around the dim apartment. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then suddenly something caught my attention, a vague outline of a figure that sat on one of our storage boxes. The figure rose up and stepped into the light. "Wh-who are you man?" stammered the freighted Dash.  
"And how'd you get in here?" quizzed Jesse  
The man's eyes started at me. They were cold, soulless looking eyes. I was more amazed at his voice than who he was or how he had got in here. His brown eyes studied me, looking me up and down, taking in my every feature. It was as if he hadn't heard Jesse or Dash, as if they weren't even in the same room. He slowly started to wonder towards me.  
"Your voice..." I said not letting my eyes leave his. "It's amazing..."  
"Thank you," he spoke. He sounded as if he wasn't from around here. His accent was that of a French person's. He still was drawing near to me. He soon stood at the other side of my keyboard looking me up and down again and the carefully studying Jesse and Dash "You're all so beautiful..." He turned to me and gently placing his place hand on my face. I jumped back in shock.  
"Your hands! Their freezing!" I exclaimed placing my own hand where his had been. My skin tingled from the cold sensation. He smiled showing his white teeth. His canine teeth appeared longer than they normally should be making them look like a cat's fangs.  
"Cold weather" His eyes locked on mine again.  
"Hey! You didn't answer my question!" Bellowed Jesse who had put down his guitar and now clutched Dash's baseball bat. The man raised his hand as if to gesture Jesse to lower his weapon. His face and the rest if his body were still facing me.  
"I'm not planning on harming any of you so there is no use for that bat you hold." He now turned and faced Jesse and Dash. "Very well I will answer your queries." He started to run his eyes over the two of them. " My name is Lestat de Lioncourt. I am a French noble who has been asleep for over a hundred years...I was awoken by the sound of your music..." his voice trailed off  
"So your like over a hundred years old?" said Dash who started to snort with laughter. Lestat nodded the corner of his mouth curved slightly to form a smile; it wasn't a very friendly smile though.   
"You don't believe me?" he said as he smile broadened showing off his white teeth again.   
"To say you're that age you don't quiet look it." I informed studying his pale, handsome face that showed very little signs of age. He looked in his mid twenties, his long wavy brown hair fell perfectly on the sides of his face, however I could tell that the length of it annoyed him as every so often he would move some strands of hair that fell in the way of his eyes. He wore dark clothes, a black shirt, black trousers and a long black coat.  
"Looks can be deceiving." He flashed another smile showing those stunning and yet sinister teeth. Jesse by time was getting annoyed.  
"Pu-lease! Do you except us to believe this crap?!" He lifted the bat again "Now get the hell outta here before I knock ya damn head off!!" Lestat stood motionless, gazing at Jesse studying him with immense detail. "Right you asked for it!" He swung the bat at Lestat with great force.  
At first I thought he had fallen to the floor but he was nowhere in sight. "Huh?!... N-no one could have dodged that! I was right in his face!" Jesse exclaimed his hands were shaking and he had a look on his face that I could only describe as fear. Suddenly an eerie feeling washed over me like someone pulling a dark veil over my trembling body. I whipped around to see Lestat's dark figure towering over me. A frightened scream escaped my lips as I stumbled back, knocking over the keyboard and nearly tripping over my own feet.  
"Wh-what are you going to do to us? ... Kill us?" His large brown eyes softened a little.  
"No..." He spoke drawing nearer to me again, however I moved backwards in alarm. "Everything you ever dreamed of I'm going to make yours. You want to become famous right? Well consider this your lucky day."  
"How...? Do you have a connection with a record company or summats?"  
"No."  
"Oh wait! I know why he can just appear outta know where, look so young and yet be over a hundred! He Satan and if we sign our souls over to him we'll get everything we ever wanted!" Dash said sarcastically some thing he always did when he got annoyed.  
"Unfortunately I'm not Satan... however I am seen as on of his associates." He sniggered.  
"What do ya mean...?" Dash started to look worried again.  
"I am what you call the un-dead, the immortal, the damned."  
"A vampire?" I asked. He nodded looking at me with those glinting eyes " A vampire!" I said mockingly " that's funny."  
"Indeed. Hilarious." He replied. There was something about his tone that suggested that he didn't find it humorous.  
"And why would a vampire of all things choose to help us?" I questioned raising one of my slender dark eyebrows.  
"Music means a lot to me. You awoke me from my hundred yearlong slumber with it, it was that powerful. It's astonishing to me and I think you should share it with this world even if not all of its ears are listening..." He turned away from me now and slowly made his way to the door his movement was graceful like a dark wild cat roaming the jungle. He spun around and asked, "And what do you call yourselves?"  
"We don't have a name for our band yet." I answered promptly.  
"Don't worry you soon will do."  
  
After that night he managed to get us a record deal with Solar Disks. We invited Lestat de Lioncourt into the band thinking his very convincing vampire gimmick may win the heart of enthusiastic rock fans even if it was maybe a bit too convincing at times...   
  
The crowd roared as we finished the song 'Slept so long' Lestat rambled around stage dragging the microphone stand with him and shouted, "You want more?!" the crowd bellowed in response.  
"Fine. This ones for those who've come for me." I had no idea what he meant when he said this but I didn't care I was having too much fun to care! Jesse's guitar fired a deafening sound as we started the second song 'Not meant for me' I closed my eyes disconnecting myself again when suddenly something sped past me nearly knocking me over I jerked my eyes open and it happened again whatever it was, was moving so rapidly that it was just a mere blur. Then to my amazement I saw figures in black cloaks surrounding Lestat. Were those blurs human? Then suddenly there was a sharp stab of pain in my stomach. Were they vampires? Maybe Lestat wasn't lying about being a vampire and all those stories he told me about living in Paris when he was mortal and going to New Orleans and living in a house with two other vampires... Maybe the stories were all real!   
Now the men in hooded cloaks tried to wound Lestat with large daggers they had pulled from their clothing. Lestat dogged and weaved their attacks in a graceful manner.  
"Madison!! Get over here!" hissed Jesse who was at the stage's side entrance. I couldn't move I wasn't too sure if I even wanted to move from the spot I stood in.   
"Lestat!!" I cried as one of the enemies lurched behind him ready to gash him with his weapon. Lestat swiftly spun round and twisted the guy's head, which made a loud 'crack' sound. More and more of them flooded onto the stage. The crowd were going nuts, cheering and screaming as they watched their hero defeat the attackers thinking this was some sort of act that we had put on! Lestat wasn't going to be able to keep it up even though the attackers were weak there was too many of them. Abruptly another blur shot past me, I let out a startled yelp but as I looked on in fear for Lestat I saw that this vampire must be an ally to Lestat as he started to pick off some of the foes.   
Jesse came up behind me and enclosed his arms around my waist and tried to yank me back away from the commotion. I kicked and punched in protest. Suddenly the cloaked strangers spontaneously combusted one by one. The crowd roared in pleasure and the smell of burning flesh filled the air it made Jesse begin to violently cough and I could hear Dash complain about the stench behind me. Then it went quiet the crowd grew silent at first all I could her was the rabid thumping of my heart when an explosion erupted from centre stage flinging me and Jesse backwards and crashing us into Dash. We lay in a heap on the floor. I glazed up to see what had caused the blast.  
To my bewilderment there was a beautiful woman floating in mid-air above a hole from the explosion. She wore clothes that the ancient Egyptians would have worn and the stage lighting bounced off her stunning bronzed skin. A striking ancient headress was keeping up her long dark hair. Lestat then glided towards her. They started to levitate upwards. I scrambled to my feet and sprinted to the centre of the stage   
"Lestat!! Lestat!!!!!" I shouted after them but it was too late he had gone. Disappeared from sight. The crowd roared again thinking that was the dramatic end to our little play. I dropped to my knees. Jesse rushed to my side quizzing me if I was okay. I nodded and looked up at the black night sky. "He's not coming back..."   
"That bastard! Leaving us without in the middle of a concert!! Now what?"  
"We'll have to end it..."  
The concert in Death Valley ended shortly after the incident. I had a feeling that, that was going to be the last time we saw the vampire Lestat. This is going to be the end. Without Lestat's incredible voice of believable vampire gimmick we were lost. Our ten minutes of fame would come to an end. And that would be the end of the rock band 'The vampire Lestat'. It would be the end for not having to worry about money. It would all be over....  
  
They sat listening to the ear-splitting sound of the crowd, our crowd, they were all silent as if locked in their own thoughts. I leisurely strolled into the room. My bizarrely coloured eyes due to the contact lenses I wore studied them.  
"Well it's time!" I rang cheerfully. They all got up and followed me down the dim, tapered corridor. Jesse, Dash and our newest member, Nikki, who played bass. I strolled boldly towards the stage. The support band we were good friends with came off and wished us all luck. I walked out onto the stage to see the same old never-ending stretch of screaming kids. I enraged the crowd by cursing and shouting at them. Then Dash did a four count and started to frivolously drum away Jesse's guitar and Nikki's Bass soon joined in. I pulled the microphone close to me and said,   
"I dedicate this song to my beautiful Lestat who none of us have seen since the concert in Death Valley!" The crowd roared. I waited for the intro to come to an end swing my hips from side to side. I yet again pulled the microphone close to me and started to sing.  
'Crazy, I'm crazy for feeling so lonely.  
I'm crazy, I'm crazy for feeling so blue  
I knew, you'd love me as long as you wanted.  
And some day you'd leave me for somebody new.  
  
Worry, why do I let myself worry?  
Wondering, what in the world should I do?  
Crazy, for thinking that my love could hold you.  
I'm crazy, for thinking that my love could hold you.  
  
I'm crazy for trying and crazy for crying.  
And I'm crazy for loving you.  
  
I'm crazy trying and crazy crying.  
And I'm crazy for loving you....'  
  
I wondered if he was out there somewhere. Watching us. I hope he's proud of me...  
  
=-=-Authors Notes-=-=  
  
Disclamer: All character's are from the film 'The Queen of the Danmed' which is based On the story by Anne Rice. Please note I don't own these characters they are property Of Anne Rice!  
  
In the film there is no names given for Lestat's band members so I made them up.  
  
Lyrics at the end of the fanfiction are from the song 'Crazy' by Kidney Thieves. 


End file.
